The correct tempo at which to play early music (i.e., music that was composed prior to the 19th century, before the invention and/or common availability of the metronome) has not been entirely clear, as many composers often did not provide much for direction in the music itself. With the invention of the metronome circa 1812, the tempo that a composer wanted their music to be played at was more easily determined, ascertained and standardized.
An example of this early music is from the Baroque era of European classical music (from the 17th and early 18th centuries), which is associated with composers such as Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel, and particularly the illustrious Johann Sebastian Bach. By way of example, when Johann Sebastian Bach (also referred to simply as “Bach” herein) composed music, particularly for keyboard instruments, he scribed very little on the pages beyond the notes themselves, giving almost no direct information about the tempo at which he desired that the piece be played.
This lack of direction in the musical works of Bach has created much debate and discussion as to the true tempo at which the composer intended their musical work to be played. Also, because all of this music was composed before the invention of the metronome, the exact number of beats per minute is not entirely clear, nor were composers typically able to instruct a musician as to what the exact tempo should be.
It is believed that contemporary musicians who were directly familiar with the music of Bach and others had knowledge of the proper tempos, but this knowledge was not made public, and eventually died with the generation of musicians who originally performed Bach and other contemporary baroque composer's work.
Several attempts have been made to derive a system that is capable of determining the appropriate tempo at which to play the works of these early classical composers, and more importantly, which results in a pleasing and musically logical sound (i.e. a sound that appears to conform with accepted principles for the performance of such a piece or movement). However, systems in existence do not teach a system that is applicable to all, or even a large segment of musical works. Also, many existing systems for attempting to determine the appropriate tempo are complex and do not enable a user to quickly identify the appropriate tempo.
Some music authorities believe that because Bach did not put much notation to his music, it was intended to be played at a wide range of acceptable tempos. However, most authorities would agree that Bach must have had a system for precisely communicating tempo information to the musician. He was known by contemporary reports as a perfectionist. The system of Bach's music should be a derivative of all of the known practices of the Baroque era, and thus all of the practices available to Bach and other composers at the time of composition. While it is not presently possible to know with certainty what technique Bach or other contemporary early baroque composers employed to score and play back music at a given tempo, a novel, systematic technique that reliably yields pleasing and musically logical tempos for modern musicians is highly desirable.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and method that enables a musician to quickly and easily determine the appropriate tempo, for early baroque music, and more particularly certain pieces of Bach, where the tempo is uncertain. Furthermore, it is desirable to provide a system and method capable of providing the appropriate tempo for a wider range of musical works from the early baroque music era.